829 research outputs found
Nitrogen on the table: the influence of food choices on nitrogen emissions and the European environment
This ENA Special Report has been prepared by the Expert Panel on Nitrogen and Food of the
UNECE Task Force on Reactive Nitrogen. It examines nitrogen and other pollution losses from the food
system and assesses the potential impacts of alternative diets on emissions of nitrogen to air and water.
It then considers the potential impacts on land-use change and associated greenhouse gas emissions.
The study finds that reductions in reactive nitrogen emissions associated with decreased intake of meat
and dairy products would have substantial benefits, not only within the EU, but also at continental and
global scales. The scenarios also match to consumption patterns that are better aligned with international
dietary recommendations
Characterizations and comparison of low sulfur fuel oils compliant with 2020 global sulfur cap regulation for international shipping
The International Marine Organization 2020 Global Sulfur Cap requires ships to burn fuels with <0.50% S and some countries require <0.10% S in certain Sulfur Emission Control Areas but little is known about these new types of fuels. Using both traditional GC–MS and more advanced chromatographic and mass spectrometry techniques, plus stable isotopic, δ13C and δ2H, analyses of pristane, phytane and n-alkanes, the organic components of a suite of three 0.50% S and three 0.10% S compliant fuels were characterized. Two oils were found to be near identical but all of the remaining oils could be forensically distinguished by comparison of their molecular biomarkers and by the profiles of the heterocyclic parent and alkylated homologues. Oils could also be differentiated by their δ13C and δ2H of n-alkanes and isoprenoids. This study provides important forensic data that may prove invaluable in the event of future oil spills
Valence-quark distributions in the pion
We calculate the pion's valence-quark momentum-fraction probability
distribution using a Dyson-Schwinger equation model. Valence-quarks with an
active mass of 0.30 GeV carry 71% of the pion's momentum at a resolving scale
q_0=0.54 GeV = 1/(0.37 fm). The shape of the calculated distribution is
characteristic of a strongly bound system and, evolved from q_0 to q=2 GeV, it
yields first, second and third moments in agreement with lattice and
phenomenological estimates, and valence-quarks carrying 49% of the pion's
momentum. However, pointwise there is a discrepancy between our calculated
distribution and that hitherto inferred from parametrisations of extant
pion-nucleon Drell-Yan data.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, REVTEX, aps.sty, epsfig.sty, minor corrections,
version to appear in PR
Graviton Mass from Close White Dwarf Binaries Detectable with LISA
The arrival times of gravitational waves and optical light from orbiting
binaries provide a mechanism to understand the propagation speed of gravity
when compared to that of light or electromagnetic radiation. This is achieved
with a measurement of any offset between optically derived orbital phase
related to that derived from gravitational wave data, at a specified location
of one binary component with respect to the other. Using a sample of close
white dwarf binaries (CWDBs) detectable with the Laser Interferometer Space
Antenna (LISA) and optical light curve data related to binary eclipses from
meter-class telescopes for the same sample, we determine the accuracy to which
orbital phase differences can be extracted. We consider an application of these
measurements involving a variation to the speed of gravity, when compared to
the speed of light, due to a massive graviton. For a subsample of 400
CWDBs with high signal-to-noise gravitational wave and optical data with
magnitudes brighter than 25, the combined upper limit on the graviton mass is
at the level of eV. This limit is two orders of
magnitude better than the present limit derived by Yukawa-correction arguments
related to the Newtonian potential and applied to the Solar-system.Comment: revised version, 8 pages, 5 figures, to appear in PR
Meson Cloud of the Nucleon in Polarized Semi-Inclusive Deep-Inelastic Scattering
We investigate the possibility of identifying an explicit pionic component of
the nucleon through measurements of polarized baryon fragments
produced in deep-inelastic leptoproduction off polarized protons, which may
help to identify the physical mechanism responsible for the breaking of the
Gottfried sum rule. The pion-exchange model predicts highly correlated
polarizations of the and target proton, in marked contrast with
the competing diquark fragmentation process. Measurement of asymmetries in
polarized production may also reveal the presence of a kaon cloud in
the nucleon.Comment: 23 pages REVTeX, 7 uuencoded figures, accepted for publication in
Zeit. Phys.
New Insights into White-Light Flare Emission from Radiative-Hydrodynamic Modeling of a Chromospheric Condensation
(abridged) The heating mechanism at high densities during M dwarf flares is
poorly understood. Spectra of M dwarf flares in the optical and
near-ultraviolet wavelength regimes have revealed three continuum components
during the impulsive phase: 1) an energetically dominant blackbody component
with a color temperature of T 10,000 K in the blue-optical, 2) a smaller
amount of Balmer continuum emission in the near-ultraviolet at lambda 3646
Angstroms and 3) an apparent pseudo-continuum of blended high-order Balmer
lines. These properties are not reproduced by models that employ a typical
"solar-type" flare heating level in nonthermal electrons, and therefore our
understanding of these spectra is limited to a phenomenological interpretation.
We present a new 1D radiative-hydrodynamic model of an M dwarf flare from
precipitating nonthermal electrons with a large energy flux of erg
cm s. The simulation produces bright continuum emission from a
dense, hot chromospheric condensation. For the first time, the observed color
temperature and Balmer jump ratio are produced self-consistently in a
radiative-hydrodynamic flare model. We find that a T 10,000 K
blackbody-like continuum component and a small Balmer jump ratio result from
optically thick Balmer and Paschen recombination radiation, and thus the
properties of the flux spectrum are caused by blue light escaping over a larger
physical depth range compared to red and near-ultraviolet light. To model the
near-ultraviolet pseudo-continuum previously attributed to overlapping Balmer
lines, we include the extra Balmer continuum opacity from Landau-Zener
transitions that result from merged, high order energy levels of hydrogen in a
dense, partially ionized atmosphere. This reveals a new diagnostic of ambient
charge density in the densest regions of the atmosphere that are heated during
dMe and solar flares.Comment: 50 pages, 2 tables, 13 figures. Accepted for publication in the Solar
Physics Topical Issue, "Solar and Stellar Flares". Version 2 (June 22, 2015):
updated to include comments by Guest Editor. The final publication is
available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11207-015-0708-
Snipe taxonomy based on vocal and non-vocal sound displays: the South American Snipe is two species
We analysed breeding sounds of the two subspecies of South American Snipe Gallinago paraguaiae paraguaiae and Gallinago paraguaiae magellanica to determine whether they might be different species: loud vocalizations given on the ground, and the tail‐generated Winnow given in aerial display. Sounds of the two taxa differ qualitatively and quantitatively. Both taxa utter two types of ground call. In G. p. paraguaiae, the calls are bouts of identical sound elements repeated rhythmically and slowly (about five elements per second (Hz)) or rapidly (about 11 Hz). One call of G. p. magellanica is qualitatively similar to those of G. p. paraguaiae but sound elements are repeated more slowly (about 3 Hz). However, its other call type differs strikingly: it is a bout of rhythmically repeated sound couplets, each containing two kinds of sound element. The Winnow of G. p. paraguaiae is a series of sound elements that gradually increase in duration and energy; by contrast, that of G. p. magellanica has two or more kinds of sound element that roughly alternate and are repeated as sets, imparting a stuttering quality. Sounds of the related Puna Snipe (Gallinago andina) resemble but differ quantitatively from those of G. p. paraguaiae. Differences in breeding sounds of G. p. paraguaiae and G. p. magellanica are strong and hold throughout their geographical range. Therefore we suggest that the two taxa be considered different species: G. paraguaiae east of the Andes in much of South America except Patagonia, and G. magellanica in central and southern Chile, Argentina east of the Andes across Patagonia, and Falklands/Malvinas.Fil: Miller, Edward H.. Memorial University Of Newfoundland; CanadáFil: Areta, Juan Ignacio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales. Museo de Ciencias Naturales. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA; ArgentinaFil: Jaramillo, Alvaro. San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory; Estados UnidosFil: Imberti, Santiago. Asociación Ambiente Sur, Rio Gallegos; ArgentinaFil: Matus, Ricardo. Kilómetro 7 Sur; Chil
Results of the BiPo-1 prototype for radiopurity measurements for the SuperNEMO double beta decay source foils
The development of BiPo detectors is dedicated to the measurement of
extremely high radiopurity in Tl and Bi for the SuperNEMO
double beta decay source foils. A modular prototype, called BiPo-1, with 0.8
of sensitive surface area, has been running in the Modane Underground
Laboratory since February, 2008. The goal of BiPo-1 is to measure the different
components of the background and in particular the surface radiopurity of the
plastic scintillators that make up the detector. The first phase of data
collection has been dedicated to the measurement of the radiopurity in
Tl. After more than one year of background measurement, a surface
activity of the scintillators of (Tl) 1.5
Bq/m is reported here. Given this level of background, a larger BiPo
detector having 12 m of active surface area, is able to qualify the
radiopurity of the SuperNEMO selenium double beta decay foils with the required
sensitivity of (Tl) 2 Bq/kg (90% C.L.) with a six
month measurement.Comment: 24 pages, submitted to N.I.M.
Spectral modeling of scintillator for the NEMO-3 and SuperNEMO detectors
We have constructed a GEANT4-based detailed software model of photon
transport in plastic scintillator blocks and have used it to study the NEMO-3
and SuperNEMO calorimeters employed in experiments designed to search for
neutrinoless double beta decay. We compare our simulations to measurements
using conversion electrons from a calibration source of and show
that the agreement is improved if wavelength-dependent properties of the
calorimeter are taken into account. In this article, we briefly describe our
modeling approach and results of our studies.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figure
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